18
By John Wolz
editor@FastenerNews.com
North American fasteners
Fastener problems
stocks fall 42%
delay 787 again
Amid an abysmal year, the FIN Fastener Stock Index lost 42% in value during
Boeing confirmed the widely-anticipated six-month
2008 as most North American public companies with fastener holdings saw
their stock values plunge.
delay to its 787 Dreamliner, brought on by improper
The FINdex decline occurred amid a 37% slump in value for a composite index of
fastener installation, along with an eight-week
related industrial stocks for the year, including a nearly 800 point drop in the Dow
production halt related to the machinists' strike.
on September 29, 2008. The latest fastener problem has been traced to an
2008 shaped up to be the "worst (year) since the Great Depression, wiping out
engineering error made at the company’s facility in
US$6.9 trillion in stock market wealth," the Associated Press reports.
Everett, WA. The bolts in question were used inside the
On average, publicly traded fastener companies lost more than 40% of their
fuselage to fasten titanium structure to carbon-fiber-
share value during 2008, including an average 25% drop in stock prices during the
final quarter. One in three fastener companies tracked by
FastenerNews.com saw
reinforced plastic composite. Boeing’s instructions for
their stock prices decline by more than 50% in 2008.
fastening titanium to composite bewildered mechanics,
B/E Aerospace recorded the largest percentage decline during the year, with its prompting them to cut too shallowly the tops of the
stock dropping 85% to US$7.69. Other public fasteners companies weren't far off
holes they were drilling.
that mark, as Park Ohio shares fell 75%, Carpenter Technologies stock slipped 72%
The first Dreamliner is now scheduled to fly sometime
and Alcoa shares plunged 69%.
during the second quarter of 2009. Boeing said it will
Simpson Manufacturing was the only public fastener company whose shares
grew in value during the year, gaining 4% on its stock price.
stick to its aggressive nine-month flight test schedule to
The year included a tumultuous fourth quarter, during which the FINdex dropped
achieve delivery by 2010.
23%, compared to a 21% decline by a composite index of related industrial stocks.
The fourth major 787 delay was greeted sceptically by
Half of the companies tracked by FIN lost 25% or more in share value during Q4. investors and customers alike. "Boeing's biggest problem
Park-Ohio recorded the largest percentage of decline during the period, dropping
at this point is credibility," said air transportation expert
65% to US$6.17 at the close of the final day of trading for 2008.
Michael E. Levine of New York University.
Other companies with Q4 losses approaching 40% or more included B/E
Aerospace (51%), Alcoa (50%), Anixter (49%), Chicago Rivet (39%) and Paulin
Since the location of all the fasteners is not certain,
(36%).
mechanics have to re-inspect the airplane from nose to
Only three public fastener companies saw stock price gains during Q4:
tail. One unnamed 787 mechanic described quality-
steelmaker Nucor's shares grew 17%, while Dorman Products gained 5% and control inspectors “crawling through” the first two
Simpson Manufacturing added 2%.
airplanes in the assembly bay “ripping all the systems
Both the FINdex and a composite index of related industrial stocks dropped an
out, everything that’s in the way.”
identical 9.9% during Q3.
A pressurization test revealed a small gap under the
The American market was far from the worst hit in 2008, according to AP. Stocks
have fallen 55% to 72% in Brazil, Russia, India and China, while stocks in developed
heads of thousands of fasteners inside the fuselage.
European and Asian markets also fell sharply and commodities like oil and copper
The specification that mechanics consult for precise
crashed. instructions made proper installation impossible.
AFS survives sell-off at Alcoa
Scrambling to slash spending and reduce Those units, which employ a total of 22,600 Alcoa is reducing total aluminum output by
output, Alcoa Inc. will cut 13,500 jobs about people at 38 locations, had combined 2008 more than 750,000 metric tons, or 18%. It
13% of its workforce. revenues of US$1.8 billion, with an estimated ultimately expects savings of about US$450
Alcoa Fastening Systems, which is a primary after-tax operating loss of about US$105 million, million annually.
supplier to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner project, is according to Alcoa. Net proceeds are expected to The company said capital expenditures will
not among the four business units Alcoa intends reach US$100 million. drop 50% to US$1.8 billion in 2009.
to divest, which are: electrical andelectronic Alcoa also imposed a global salary and "These are extraordinary times, requiring
systems, global foil, cast auto wheels and hiring freeze to combat a deepening global speed and decisiveness to address the current
European transportation products businesses. recession. economic downturn," CEO Klaus Kleinfeld stated.
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